1) Robert Maxwell acquired and heavily leveraged Maxwell Communications Corporation through large acquisitions, taking on billions in debt.
2) By the late 1980s, the company was struggling financially and Maxwell diverted hundreds of millions from employee pension funds in an attempt to prop up the failing company.
3) After Maxwell's death in 1991, the company collapsed amid revelations of his misuse of funds, owing billions to creditors.
1) Robert Maxwell acquired and heavily leveraged Maxwell Communications Corporation through large acquisitions, taking on billions in debt.
2) By the late 1980s, the company was struggling financially and Maxwell diverted hundreds of millions from employee pension funds in an attempt to prop up the failing company.
3) After Maxwell's death in 1991, the company collapsed amid revelations of his misuse of funds, owing billions to creditors.
1) Robert Maxwell acquired and heavily leveraged Maxwell Communications Corporation through large acquisitions, taking on billions in debt.
2) By the late 1980s, the company was struggling financially and Maxwell diverted hundreds of millions from employee pension funds in an attempt to prop up the failing company.
3) After Maxwell's death in 1991, the company collapsed amid revelations of his misuse of funds, owing billions to creditors.
important transnational insolvencies of modern times.
the empire of Maxwell was an
unusual one with its true “seat” in london, where it was administered and nearly all of its financial affairs (especially loans and the grant of security) were managed, but its principal assets were in the united states in the form of various large operating companies. this ambiguous structure gave rise to a double-headed proceeding: Maxwell Communications Corporation and Mirror Group an administration in the united Kingdom and a Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the united Newspaper (UK) 1991 states. Maxwell Communications Corporation was a leading British media company. it was Reasons of the Debacle listed on the london stock exchange and was a constituent of the Ftse 100 index. the company was estab-lished in 1964 as the British printing Corporation. in 1967 it (1) Acquisitions through Heavy Debts. Maxwell was in deep debts following large acquired a majority stake in Haymarket Group. in july 1981 robert Maxwell launched acquisitions. the borrowings were personal as well on company accounts. the company a dawn raid on the company acquiring a stake of 29 per cent. in 1982 he secured full borrowed $3 bil-lion in 1988 to buy the us publishers Macmillan and official airlines control over the company and changed the name of the Company to British printing & Guide. in fact, Maxwell wanted to buy everything from american book publishers to Communications Corporation and to Maxwell Communications Corporation in British soccer teams to israeli and German newspapers. He piled debt upon debt by october 1987. the company acquired Macmillan publishers, a large us publisher, in pledging the assets of the companies under his control. it was discovered later that 1988 and science research associates and the official airline Guide later that year. Maxwell had pledged the same assets as collateral for various loans. By the end of the 1980s the Maxwell empire, comprising more than 400 companies was loosely organized into three clusters. the two publicly listed companies: the (2) Financial Difficulties and Diversion of Funds. By the end of the 1980s the Maxwell Mirror Group, which published the Daily record, the sunday Mail and racing times, as empire, comprising more than 400 companies, was experiencing acute financial well as the Mirror newspapers; Maxwell Communication, the flagship company which difficulties and was only kept afloat by shifting funds around his maze of inter-locking controlled such concerns as Macmillan books, the official airline Guides and p.F. private companies, misap-propriating pensioners’ funds, and relentless deal-making. Collier encyclopedias; and the Robert Maxwell Group which was privately held and Months before Maxwell vanished from his yacht, there was a growing fear that he was owned 100 per cent by the family whose operations included the oxford united having trouble meeting his repayment schedule. With the american and european Football Club and publications like the european, as well as stakes in newspapers in economies starting to sour, Maxwell was faced with declining cash flow and debilitating israel, Hungary and Kenya. all the three holding companies were also directly and debt payments. Despite his eroding financial condition, however, he was able to pass indirectly linked to dozens of other family-controlled enterprises. annual audits by leading european accountants Coopers & ly-brand Deloitte. that enabled Maxwell to add on more debt in March 1991 when he purchased the Daily news Debacle of Maxwell from the tribune Co. by assuming as much as $35 million in obligations. in 1991, in november 1991, chairman of the group companies robert Maxwell, 68, was found desperate for money, Maxwell sold pergamon and floated Mirror Group newspapers as drowned floating beside his luxury yacht near the Canary islands. in a matter of weeks a public company. But it was too late. of the mysterious death of Maxwell, the global empire of publishing and other businesses collapsed amidst scandal about shocking financial maneuvers. (3) Uncertainties following the Death of Maxwell. the stock of Maxwell investigations revealed that Maxwell’s group companies owed Communication plunged to $2.18 on 5 november 1991, (the day Maxwell disappeared) £2.8 billion to its bankers. Maxwell’s untimely death triggered a flood of instability from a high of $4.28 a share in april 1991, and further dropped to $0.63. the decline in with banks frantically calling in their massive loans. His two young sons Kevin and ian stock value was of special concern to Maxwell’s creditors, since most of the family’s struggled to hold the empire together, but were unable to prevent its collapse. 68 per cent stake in the company was pledged as collateral for loans. the untimely death Furthermore, the most famous uK pension scandal of all time came to light when £530 of Maxwell triggered a wave of uncertainty amongst the lenders and creditors which million hole in the pension funds of 16,000 employees of Mirror Group newspapers was ultimately led to the collapse of the empire of robert Maxwell based around Maxwell discovered. the thousands of employees of the Mirror Group had paid into pension funds Communications Corporation. totalling many millions of pounds, which Maxwell had ‘borrowed’ in a desperate attempt to prop up the ailing Maxwell Communication. the Company went into administration following the death of robert Maxwell. its From the early 1990s, there has been a growing awareness of the relevance of positive properties were leadership in corporate governance for the sustainability of companies and the business sold to various media companies. the london based Maxwell Communication system. This awareness stems from manifest failures in corporate governance, which gave Corporation- parent of the giant u.s. book publisher Macmillan also filed the Chapter rise to scandals worldwide, and arguably, to the global banking crisis of 2008. An early 11 bankruptcy petition in new York, in part, because bulk of its revenue and operating scandal, which was a factor initiating corporate governance reform in the UK, was the 1991 profit was generated in the united states. the Maxwell case was one of the most Maxwell downfall, when it was revealed that Robert Maxwell, Chairman and CEO of Maxwell Communications Corporation, had caused a GBP 441 million-sized hole in the company pension fund to cover hidden personal debts of GBP 4 billion. Subsequent analysis highlighted a number of corporate governance deficiencies and lack of accountability and controls because of the concentration of power that had facilitated Maxwell’s fraudulent activities.
In Re Maxwell Communication Corporation Plc, by Andrew Mark Homan, Colin Graham Bird, Jonathan Guy Anthony Phillips and Alan Rae Dalziel Jamieson, Its Joint Administrators, Debtor. Maxwell Communication Corporation Plc, by Andrew Mark Homan, Colin Graham Bird, Jonathan Guy Anthony Phillips and Alan Rae Dalziel Jamieson, Its Joint Administrators, Richard A. Gitlin, Examiner, Intervenor-Plaintiff-Appellant v. Societe Generale, Barclays Bank Plc, National Westminster Bank Plc, 93 F.3d 1036, 2d Cir. (1996)